417 



CHANDERNAGORE. 



CHARENTE. 



418 



be considered as extending still farther north in the narrow channel 

 called the river Chambly, or Sorel, as far as the town of St. Jean, in 

 Lower Canada ; this will add about 30 miles more to its length. Its 

 area may be between 600 and 700 square miles. Its breadth varies 

 from about half a mile to 20 miles, and its depth from 50 feet to 

 280 feet. On both sides of the lake are high grounds which rise to a 

 considerable elevation. Owing to this circumstance the numerous 

 rivers which, from the east as well as from the west, empty them- 

 selves into the lake, though they run from 40 to 60 miles, are only 

 navigable at their mouths ; the entire fall in their course being from 

 500 to 1000 feet. The short river which issues from Lake George 

 and enters Lake Champlain at its southern extremity is likewise 

 unfit for navigation on account of its rapids and cataracts. Lake 

 George is nearly 200 feet above Lake Champlain, and Lake Champlain 

 only 90 feet above the tide-water in the St. Lawrence. This lake is 

 navigated by vessels of 100 tons burden, and by feteamers of large 

 size. It discharges its waters by the Chambly, or Sorel, which leaves 

 it at its most northern extremity and falls into the St. Lawrence near 

 the town of Sorel, or William Henry. The Chambly is navigable for 

 river-barges, and affords a line of communication between the United 

 States and Lower Canada. The Champlain Canal commences at 

 Whitehall, at the southern extremity of the lake, and runs in a 

 general southern course to the Hudson at Fort Edward. From Fort 

 Edward it runs southward along the west side of the river past 

 Saratoga, and joins the Erie at Watervliet above Albany. The whole 

 length of the canal, including about 17 miles of improved river- 

 navigation, is 64 miles. By this canal a water-communication is 

 opened between the Hudson and the St. Lawrence through Lake 

 Champlain. It was completed in 1822. Among the numerous 

 islands of Lake Champlain, the largest are North and South Hero 

 and Lamotte, belonging to the state of Vermont. The lake abounds 

 with salmon, salmon-trout, sturgeon, pickerel, and other fish. 



The principal towns on or near the lake, are Pittsburgh, 

 St. Albans, Burlington [BcRHNOTON], and Whitehall. In September 

 1814, a naval battle was fought on this lake, near Plattsburgh, in 

 which Commodore Macdonough, the American commander, defeated 

 the British fleet. (Darby ; Bouchette.) 



CHANDERNAGORE, the chief town of the French possessions in 

 India, is situated on the river Hoogly, in 22 52' N. lat., 88 12' 

 E. long., distant about 16 miles N.N.W. from Calcutta. The popula- 

 tion in 1841 was about 36,000 ; of which number the European 

 residents did not amount to 300. The town is well situated, the 

 streets are straight and the houses are well built, but the town has 

 decreased in importance owing to ita trade having declined. The 

 French settled at G'handernagore in 1676; the British dispossessed 

 them of it in 1759 : it was restored to the French after the conclusion 

 of the war in 1816. 



CHANTILLY. [ALLIEK; OISE.] 



CHAOURCE. [AOBE.] 



CHAPEL-EN-LK-FRITH, Derbyshire, a market-town and the seat 

 of a Poor- Law Union, in the parish of Chapel-en-le-Frith and hundred 

 of High Peak, is situated in 53 19' N. lat., 1 54' W. long., distant 

 40 miles N.W. by N. from Derby, and 167 miles N.W. by N. from 

 London by road. The population of the parish was 3214 in 1851. 

 The living is a perpetual curacy in the archdeaconry of Derby and 

 diocese of Lichfield. Chapel-en-le-Frith Poor-Law Union contains 

 17 parishes and townships, with an area of 69,498 acres, and a popu- 

 lation in 1851 of 11,493. 



Chapel-en-le-Frith is situated on the edge of the Peak district, and 

 on the border of Cheshire. The parish church, dedicated to 

 St. Thomas a Becket, is a Grecian building, erected at the beginning 

 of the last century. The Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists and 

 Baptists have places of worship, and there are National and Infant 

 schools, a mutual improvement society for young men, and a savings 

 bank. A county court is held in the town. The town of Chapel-en- 

 le-Frith stands on the side of an eminence, at an elevation of 566 feet 

 above the level of the sea at low-water. The town is partially lighted 

 with gas, which is supplied by the owners of a cotton manufactory in 

 the neighbourhood. A cotton manufactory and a paper-mill give 

 employment to many of the inhabitants. The Peak Forest lime- 

 works, which are about three miles east from the town, give employ- 

 ment in the carting of lime to Manchester. The Peak Forest Canal 

 run* three miles to the north-west of Chapel-en-le-Frith ; communi- 

 cation with it is maintained by a short branch of the Peak Forest 

 railway. There is a small market on Thursday ; and numerous fairs 

 are held in the course of the year for the sale of cattle, wool, and 

 provisions. 



(Lyions, Magna Brita/nnia ; Communication from Chapel-en-le- 

 Prith.) 



CHAPEL-HILL. [CAROLINA, NORTH.] 



CHARD, Somersetshire, a market-town, borough, and the seat of a 

 Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Chard and hundred of Kingsbury 

 East, is situated in 50 62' N. lat., 2 57' W. long., distant 50 miles 

 8.8. W. from Bristol, and 139 miles W.S.W. from London by road. 

 Taunton, the nearest station on the Great Western line of railway, 

 which is 13 miles from Chard, is 163 miles from London. The pppu- 

 lation of the borough of Chard in 1851 was 2291. The borough is 

 governed by 4 aldermen and 12 councillors, one of whom is mayor. 



OEOO. DIV. VOL. II. 



The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Taunton, and diocese 

 of Bath and Wells. Chard Poor-Law Union contains 34 parishes and 

 townships, with an area of 57,946 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 26,085. 



At the time of the Domesday Survey, the manor of Chard, then 

 called Cerdre, was held by the bishop of Wella. The borough sent 

 members to Parliament in the reigns of Edward II. and Edward 

 III., but not since. The town stands on the high ground on the aouth 

 border of the county, close to Devonshire. The streets, which are 

 rather irregularly laid out, are lighted with gas ; the houses are gene- 

 rally well-built. The market-house, an ancient structure, was origi- 

 nally built as a court-houae for the assizes. The parish church, in 

 the perpendicular style, was erected in the reign of Henry VII. The 

 Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists have places of 

 worship. Chard possesses an Endowed Grammar school of ancient 

 foundation, which had 30 scholars in 1852. There is a National 

 school. An hospital founded in 1662 by Richard Harvey, and rebuilt 

 in 1841, maintains 16 poor persons, legally settled in the borough, 

 natives having the preference. The lace trade is carried on in Chard ; 

 two large manufactories employing several hundred persons. There 

 are also two iron foundries. A canal connects Chard with Bridgewater, 

 and on the wharf at Chard are extensive warehouses. The market is 

 on Monday ; fairs are held on the first Wednesdays in May, August, 

 and November. A county court is held in the town. 

 (Communications from Chard.) 



CHARENTE, a department in the south-west of France, takes its 

 name from its principal river the Charente. It is bounded N. by the 

 departments of Deux-Sevres and Haute-Vieune, E. by those of Vienue 

 and Dordogne, and S. and W. by those of Dordogue and Charente- 

 Inf<?rieure. The department lies between 45 12' and 46 7' N. lat., 

 0" 50' E. and 30' W. long. Its greatest length from north-east to 

 south-west is 75 miles ; the average breadth is 35 miles. The area 

 according to the cadastral returns of 1851 is 2295'6 square miles, and 

 the population according to the census of the same year amounted to 

 382,912, which gives 166'68 to the square mile, being 8'03 below the 

 average per square mile for the whole of France. 



Surface. The department comprises the whole of the former pro- 

 vinces of Angoumois, to which on the west has been added a small 

 strip of Saintonge, on the north portions of Poitou and Marche, and 

 on the east an inconsiderable part of Limousin. It presents a surface 

 diversified by several ranges of hills, sandy and calcareous plains, 

 artificial meadows, heaths, and rocks. The hills, which are pretty 

 equal in height, consist of layers of the fossiliferous deposits, and are 

 in many places covered with chestnut forests. The soil is dry, but 

 produces abundance of corn and wine. There is but little natural 

 grass-land, but the moorland pastures of the arrondissements of 

 Barbezieux and Confolens serve for the outrun of a large number of 

 cattle and sheep. 



Hydrography and Communications. The chief river of the depart- 

 ment is the Charente, which rising in Haute-Vienne and flowing north- 

 west crosses the north-east of the department of Charente, and enters 

 that of Vienne as far as Civray ; from this town it turns south, and 

 again entering the department of Charente passes Verteuil, Mausle, 

 and Angoulgme, whence flowing westward past Chateauneuf, Jamac, 

 and Cognac, it enters the department of Charente-Infe"rieure ; here it 

 runs north-west past Saintes, and Rochefort, of which it forms the 

 harbour, and falls into the ocean opposite Isle-Madame. The Chareute 

 is subject to inundations which greatly contribute to the fertility of 

 the land along its banks ; its course is rapid, but the navigation up- 

 wards is facilitated by means of 27 large sluices designed to keep the 

 water between each pair of sluices in a state approaching to equili- 

 brium. Its whole length is 200 miles, of which 118 miles are navi- 

 gable ; the tide ascends it to a little above Saiutes, and steamers piy 

 up the river as far as Angouleme. The Tardoire rises in Haute- 

 Vienne, flows west past La-Rochefoucauld, below which it receives the 

 Bandiat on ita left bank. These two rivers flow in high channels 

 through a calcareous soil, abounding in caverns and grottoes, which 

 absorb some of their waters, for the volume of the united stream 

 becomes very much diminished as it approaches the Charente, which 

 it enters after receiving the Bogneure a little above Mansle. The lost 

 waters are supposed to give rise to another feeder of the Charente, 

 the Touvres, the source of which at Beaulieu resembles that of the 

 Sorgue in Vaucluse, and rivals it in beauty. The Ne rises in the 

 south of the department, and enters the Charente below Cognac. The 

 Seugne flows through the south-west of Charente-Infe"riere, and joins 

 the Charente east of Saintes. The principal feeders of the Charente 

 on the right bank are the Antoine, which falls in below Cognac, and 

 the Boutonne, which, rising in the department of Deux-Sevres, flows 

 through the Charente - InfcSrieure, passing St.-Jean-d'Ange"ly and 

 Tonnay-Bou tonne, and enters the Charente about 15 miles from its 

 mouth. 



The north-east of the department is crossed by the Vienne, which 

 is joined to the Charente by the Canal-de-Poitou. The southern 

 border of the department is formed by the Nizonne and the Droune, 

 which receives the Nizonne and the Tude on its right bank, and falls 

 into the Isle, a feeder of the Dordogne. In the arrondissement of 

 Confolens, there is a great number of ponds. All the waters of the 

 department abound in fisli. 



